Jul 18, 2007 10:05 am US/Pacific
Horse, 7 Dogs, Child, Removed From Squalid Home
MODESTO, Calif. (AP) ―
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Joe Silva and Nichole Surkala were arrested and charged with child endangerment after officers discovered the dirty house.
CBS
Authorities removed a miniature horse and seven dogs from a home strewn with feces and rotting produce and charged the owners with endangering their 12-year-old child, officials said Tuesday.
Joe Silva and Nichole Surkala's house was so badly infested with flies that Surkala's young son had to sleep in a tent to escape them, said Animal Control Officer Jennifer Sol, who went to the residence investigating a neighbor's complaint Monday.
"There was nothing in my career that could have prepared me for what I came into," Sol said. "There were flies throughout. The (floor) had straw all over it. There were feces all over the kitchen. It was not pretty."
The child told her he slept in the tent inside his bedroom "because it was clean," Sol said. Social workers took the boy from the house and put him in protective custody, she said.
Surkala, 37, the boy's mother, and Silva, 30, his stepfather, were arrested on felony child endangerment charges. Surkala posted $25,000 bail later Monday, while Silva remained in jail Tuesday. A jail clerk didn't have any information about defense lawyers.
The couple rented out the miniature horse for children's parties, and the produce that littered the dwelling was used to feed the animal, Sgt. Ed Steele said.
"The animals were defecating all over the house," he said. "They were living in it. You couldn't walk anywhere without stepping on the stuff."
Horses are not allowed to be kept within Modesto city limits, Sol noted.
The horse appeared to be in good condition, but the dogs looked in need of attention, she said.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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